Charpin (Mesopotamian history, Sorbonne, Paris) takes up a subject that's been debated by Assyriologists for many years: Did scribes alone have the knowledge to read and write cuneiform, the earliest writing, invented by the Sumerians around 3200 B.C.E.? Charpin focuses on what may be called the "classical" period of Mesopotamian civilization, the period between the Babylonian rulers Hammurabi (1792-1750 B.C.E.) to Nebuchadnezzar (604-562 B.C.E.). Charpin's work at Ur some 20 years ago convinced him that what was thought to be a school was in fact a residence for clergy who home trained their children and apprentices to read and write cuneiform. His research has convinced him that literacy was not limited to professional scribes. The depth and range of material Charpin includes is indeed impressive. In sections that will be of particular interest to lay readers and students, Charpin goes into detail about reading a cuneiform tablet and the apprenticeship of a scribe. He informs the reader that the oral, spoken word-Sumerian or Akkadian-was most important in Mesopotamian society, and it was the survival of the written over the spoken word that produced the expansion of writing. VERDICT Required reading for scholars in the field and their students.-Joan W. Gartland, Macomb Community Coll. Libs., Warren, MI (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.